Beyond disease burden: Towards solution-oriented population health

摘要

The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2010 made a major contribution to population health by igniting a debate about how best to reduce human suffering and premature death. The timing was impeccable. As governments, health agencies, and civil society go into conclave to elect a successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the GBD put health high on the policy agenda. We live in a world of horrendous health inequalities despite a vast array of effective interventions. In 2010, healthy life expectancy in men was 30 years in Haiti but 70 years in Japan.1 The corresponding figures for women were 37 years and 72 years, respectively. Never before has our obligation to reduce suffering been accompanied by such potential to do so.